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Monday Musings: The Day Job a.k.a. What I Learned From Going Back to Work

So I picked up a part-time job to get a war chest for con trips, stocking up on physical books to sell, that sort of thing (also bills! Food! All that kind of thing!). It’s been two or three years since the last time I had an actual employer and did this kind of core retail/manual work. Boy, did I learn a lot!

I’m not twenty-four anymore … but I’m not totally decrepit. I’m sore, my left knee is janky, and I certainly didn’t expect to be hit like that. However, I also realized that I wasn’t so far gone that I couldn’t keep up. Each day has been a little bit easier and, hopefully, in another week or so, I’ll be back in my stride.

Working with people is kind of fun. Not that I haven’t worked alongside others in certain aspects during my writing, but there’s a difference between that long-distance collaboration and working hand-in-hand with other people.

Even a part-time job eats up more time than you’d expect. Twenty hours a week isn’t twenty hours. There’s transportation time, there’s online training, there’s all the extra chores that come up, and so on. It puts a kink in my style.

The ‘time to think’ concept does have some truth to it. You do have to pay attention at any job you work at, but there’s almost always a chance to focus your higher brain functions on things outside of work. I just wish there was more time for that.

I ultimately look forward to the time I can get back to full-time writing. No matter what other ups and downs there are, I just want to write, end of story.

Well, enough of my noodling! I have a day off, so it’s time to write. Until next time, good reading, good writing, and good luck!

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I learned you will run into the stupid and illogical people you thought only existed in bizarre news stories:
“Yeah, I saw the Closed sign on the door. But I thought I could come in for a minute and look around.”